Evolution’s great mystery - Michael Corballis

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: SF Huang

In the 1980s, a bonobo named Kanzi

1980 年代，倭黑猩猩坎吉

learned to communicate with humans to an unprecedented extent—

學會了前所未見的方式和人類溝通——

not through speech or gestures,

不是透過說話或手勢，而是用鍵盤，

but using a keyboard of abstract symbols representing objects and actions.

每個鍵上的抽象符號 代表著不同的物體和行為。

By pointing to several of these in order, he created sequences to make requests,

牠可以依順序指向數個符號鍵，

創造出序列，來提出要求、

answer verbal questions from human researchers,

回答人類研究者口頭問牠的問題，

and refer to objects that weren’t physically present.

並指出沒有出現在牠眼前的實體物件。

Kanzi’s exploits ignited immediate controversy over one question:

坎吉的輝煌成就馬上就點燃了 大家對一個問題的爭辯：

had Kanzi learned language?

坎吉是否學會了語言？

What we call language is something more specific than communication.

我們所謂的語言是比溝通 還要更明確的東西。

Language is about sharing what’s in our minds:

語言就是在分享我們的想法：

stories, opinions, questions, the past or future,

故事、意見、問題、過去或未來、

imagined times or places, ideas.

想像出來的時代或地方、想法。

It is fundamentally open-ended,

基本上，語言是開放式的，

and can be used to say an unlimited number of things.

可以用語言來說的內容有無限多。

Many researchers are convinced that only humans have language,

許多研究者深信只有人類才有語言，

that the calls and gestures other species use to communicate are not language.

其他物種用來溝通的叫聲 和動作示意都不算是語言。

Each of these calls and gestures generally corresponds to a specific message,

因為這些聲音和動作示意， 每個都對應到特定的訊息，

for a limited total number of messages

總共能傳遞的訊息數量有限，

that aren’t combined into more complex ideas.

這些訊息無法組合 成為更複雜的想法。

For example, a monkey species might have a specific warning call

舉例來說，一種猴子可能 會有一種特定的警告叫聲，

that corresponds to a particular predator, like a snake—

對應某種特定的捕食性動物，如蛇——

but with language, there are countless ways to say “watch out for the snake.”

但使用語言的話，則有無數種方式 來表達「小心有蛇」的意思。

So far no animal communication seems to have the open-endedness

目前，似乎沒有任何動物的溝通

具有人類語言的開放性。

of human language.

We don’t know for sure what’s going on in animals’ heads,

我們不知道動物的頭腦怎麼運作，

and it's possible this definition of language,

有可能這種語言定義

or our ways of measuring it, don’t apply to them.

或我們衡量語言的方式 並不適用於牠們。

But as far as we know, only humans have language.

但，就我們所知， 只有人類有語言。

And while humans speak around 7,000 distinct languages,

雖然人類會說大約 七千種不同的語言，

any child can learn any language,

任何孩童都可以學會任何語言，

indicating that the biological machinery underlying language

這表示，我們所有人都具有

is common to all of us.

語言所需要的生物結構。

So what does language mean for humanity?

所以，對人類來說語言意謂著什麼？

What does it allow us to do, and how did we come to have it?

語言能讓我們成就什麼？ 我們如何發展出語言？

Exactly when we acquired this capacity is still an open question.

我們何時取得這種能力？ 仍是個未知數。

Chimps and bonobos are our closest living relatives,

黑猩猩和倭黑猩猩是現存 和我們最接近的親戚，

but the lineage leading to humans split from the other great apes

但早在四百萬年前， 人類就已經和其他類人猿

more than four million years ago.

分支出來了。

In between, there were many species— all of them now extinct,

在這期間還有許多物種—— 現在全都絕種了，

which makes it very difficult to know if they had language or anything like it.

因此我們很難得知牠們是否 有語言或類似語言的東西。

Great apes give one potential clue to the origins of language, though:

不過，人科動物仍然可以提供 一條關於語言起源的可能線索：

it may have started as gesture rather than speech.

一開始，語言可能 是動作示意而非說話。

Great apes gesture to each other in the wild much more freely

在野外，人科動物 能自由地使用動作示意彼此，

than they vocalize.

遠勝過用發聲。

Language may have begun to take shape during the Pleistocene,

語言開始成形的時間點 有可能是在更新世，

2 to 3 million years ago, with the emergence of the genus Homo

那是兩百到三百萬年前， 當時人屬開始出現，

that eventually gave rise to our own species, homo sapiens.

最終演化成我們這個物種，現代人。

Brain size tripled, and bipedalism freed the hands for communication.

腦部變成三倍大，雙腳站立 讓手部能用來做溝通。

There may have been a transition from gestural communication

有可能，動作示意溝通 轉變成了動作示意語言——

to gestural language—

from pointing to objects and pantomiming actions—

從指向物體以及比手劃腳——

to more efficient, abstract signing.

變成更有效率、抽象的示意。

The abstraction of gestural communication would have removed the need for visuals,

動作示意溝通的抽象表達， 可能會讓視覺變成非必要，

setting the stage for a transition to spoken language.

奠定轉換成言語的基礎。

That transition would have likely come later, though.

不過，那種轉變可能是後來才發生的。

Articulate speech depends on a vocal tract of a particular shape.

要能清晰發音， 需要有特定形狀的聲道，

Even our closest ancestors, the Neanderthals and Denisovans,

就算是和我們最接近的親戚 （尼安德人和丹尼索瓦人），

had vocal tracts that were not optimal,

他們的聲道也不是最理想的，

though they likely had some vocal capacity,

不過他們可能有些言語 表達的能力，甚至可能有語言。

and possibly even language.

Only in humans is the vocal tract optimal.

只有人類的聲道才是最理想的。

Spoken words free the hands for activities such as tool use and transport.

使用口頭言語能將 雙手空出來做活動，

如使用工具及搬運。

So it may have been the emergence of speech,

可能是因為說話能力的出現，

not of language itself, that led to the dominance of our species.

而非語言本身，導致 我們的物種能佔有支配地位。

Language is so intimately tied to complex thought, perception, and motor functions

語言和複雜思想、感知、 運動功能息息相關，

that it’s difficult to untangle its biological origins.

因此很難解開它的生物學起源。

Some of the biggest mysteries remain:

有些最大的謎題仍然沒有解開：

to what extent did language as a capacity shape humanity,

語言這種能力對於 人類的形成有多大的影響？

and to what extent did humanity shape language?

人類對於語言的形成 又有多大的影響？

What came first, the vast number of possible scenarios we can envisage,

哪個先、哪個後？是我們先能 設想出非常多可能的情況？

or our ability to share them?

還是我們先有能力分享它們？